Thursday 5 April 2012

‘What does a group of 8 British volunteers do when they find themselves in the middle of a Military Coup?’

I am going to answer that question ‘What does a group of 8 British volunteers do when they find themselves in the middle of a Military Coup?’

I'm sure you all read about it or had me inform you of it briefly but there was a military coup while i was in Mali - its still on-going now. Here's my experience and my final blog :(

With the temperature in Mali reaching above 40C some of us decided to start sleeping on the roof terrace to avoid more sweaty, sleep-less nights. We had been warned of some military tension in Bamako in the afternoon but believed it was of no real concern as we’d had a similar warning about 2months previous. We slept under mosquito nets only and were all drifting off to sleep when loud explosions startled us. From then on, there were regular explosions, flares and varying gunfire throughout the night. I was in an out of sleep as a result.
In the morning we were told there had been a military coup with the army claiming to have seized power from President Amadou Toumani Toure in a coup in the early hours of the morning. They had apparently captured the president and other government officials
Unable to leave the office, ‘cooped up’ as some may say what did we proceed to do? The first thing was panic-eat. I don’t know why we decided to do this but we did. We stuffed ourselves with bread, rice and mangos obviously worried about when we would next see food again. The idea of rationing didn’t even come into my head. There was no need to panic though, the small shop 5steps across from our front door remained open (unlike every other shop in the area) which was able to supply us with bread and rice and tea for a few days! The army had laid down a 6pm curfew however it didn’t feel necessary as we weren’t allowed to leave the office anyway and from the roof it looked as though Malians were staying indoors too. It was eerily quiet, no beeping taxis and mopeds on the roads, no street sellers or men making tea on street corners either. All the shops were shut too. Not being able to leave the office meant we couldn’t carry out any of our project work either because it meant travelling across town to the schools and centres etc. Equally, all these places were shut themselves. No one was going to work. Everything had come to a standstill.
There was regular gunfire and explosions through the day and night for about 3days after and between us we kept reading various news articles out loud to everyone from the BBC and Al Jazeera.
I proceded to do a spot of sun-bathing on the roof (what else do you do when you can’t work and its 40C sunshine?) it was quite strange to be catching rays in my bikini and hear the odd gun fire in the distance. It was far away and I was surround by high walls so this wasn’t dangerous sunbathing!
On the third day, we woke up after a very quiet night. Rumours surfaced about water being cut off and a counter attack by the President’s loyal forces, the red berets but nothing happened. We still slept on the roof. Petrol had run out in most of the petrol stations in Bamako and was doubling in price every day. Looting was going on and we saw some trucks of army soldiers with guns go past. We were still not allowed out of the house.
The following days were much the same and we were basically waiting to hear from the director of IS Mali And UK, British Embassy and DFID to see whether we were going to stay in Mali and sit it out or be evacuated. The airport was closed at about 11am on Thursday which led us to wonder how we would leave in an emergency but we were informed that we’d go via the US or French Embassy. We received a friendly email from the British Embassy to say they had suspended services and the FCO warned us not to make un-necessary travel. Excellent advice.
As Cabin fever began to set in, we whipped out monopoly, articulate and scrabble. I finished my book, ran my iPod out of battery and got a healthy tan!
With the boarders and airport closed, there wasn’t anything we could really do and IS kept monitoring the situation which seemed to calm down as each day went on. With things seemingly settling down, we were allowed out during the day but only in the local area so we went on walks and to the local market etc. It was still really restricting though and nothing like what life had been like before in Mali. We still had the 6pm curfew. At this time, I really didn’t want to go home as I wanted to see the rest of our projects through to completion; however, equally I was bored of sitting in the office twiddling my thumbs waiting to see if the whole thing blew over. At the end of the day, Mali was an unstable place to be with no democratic government in place. Thus, IS opted for us to be evacuated once the airport was open.
With our last few days in Mali approaching and being allowed more freedom as the coup situation settled we visited the big market one last time to buy presents for IS staff and people at home. Frequent trips to the tailors were made, especially as we had become great friends with them and often spent hours there just chilling and chatting during the coup as we were unable to work and their shop was right on the corner so within our ‘permitted’ zone! We also had a goodbye lunch at the IS director’s house.
I started to get withdrawal symptoms from not going to the orphanage regularly during the coup I missed having baby contact and we were obviously a bit worried about them. So with some persuasion we managed to get Rene to allow us to go for the afternoon one day as long as we were back by the 6pm national curfew. It was lovely and all the babies were safe and sound. We had decided some time ago that we wanted to do something for the orphanage before we left because we had the capacity to help them and adored the babies. Bibi, the woman who ran the orphanage said she was running really low on milk for the babies and the coup may or may not restrict finances and buying things in the near future. (This was actually the case in the end, as sanctions were placed on Mali by other West African countries in order to try and stop the coup) So we decided to buy her lots of formula milk (nursie 1 to be exact), mineral water and mosquito nets (something we noticed, they did not have). My boyfriend started the ball rolling with a nice donation for this and then as a result some of the other girls asked family members at home who ended up asking around as well and before we knew it we had about £700 gathered. By this time, we had been informed that IS had booked us flights to leave a few days later and so there was a bit of a rush to get hold of the cash and milk whilst trying to do all the other things we had to do before leaving. The cash was the biggest issue. Cash machines are few and far between in Mali anyway but working ones are even harder to find in a military coup! It took me 3hours to get out £120. The first and only working cash point in my local area was in a hotel which ate my card. It turns out when this happens, you just have to find someone from the bank with the key and he will retrieve it for you! So I did this and tried again with no luck. In the end, Papa, our driver, took me across Bamako to the main bank where I waited in line for an hour to get the cash in 2 withdrawals. Nightmare! The other girls got theirs sent via western union at great expense but less hassle. Although, we were ushered out quickly by staff when rumours surfaced of the military coming and closing all offices and banks at any moment which posed a threat for us with bundles of cash on us. With the cash in our hands, Bridie and I went around all the local shops and completely cleared them out of Nursie 1 milk! We had to go quite far so one morning roped a taxi driver in to be our chauffer from one shop to the next loading up his battered taxi with milk and water! I think he had fun! When we gave all the milk etc to Bibi at the orphanage, she cried! She was overwhelmed and said she only had enough milk for 2days and now she has enough for 2 months with what we had brought! We spent a lovely few hours there saying goodbye to all the babies and they even tied some on our backs like real African woman! This was something I had been dying to do since the moment I got to Mali and saw woman doing it! I think the babies and the orphanage are one of things I will miss the most!
So on Saturday 31st March, we flew home, exactly one week before we were meant to and ten days after the coup had happened. It was the best decision because since we left, things have got a lot worse with rebels in the north advancing and taking over major cities such as Timbuktu and Gao. There have also been sanctions put upon Mali with the West African banks freezing assets and not allowing the CFA currency into the country in a ploy to try and get the military junta to step down. A real shame for the local people, it makes me sad to think about people like our tailors who may have to shut for the time being if there is no cash around to pay works and buy material etc. Saying goodbye to everyone was very sad and it feels a bit strange to leave when our projects aren’t finished but the IS staff will finish them for us. Before we left, we went to visit the artisans and metal workers who were building the playground equipment and they had finished everything and it all looked superb! So, this week it will all be being put in the ground at the blind school which Rene is over-seeing and this is wonderful to know. The art, sports and IT training classes were cut short due to the coup however, Mama and Fatime (the two IS interns) have said they will conduct the remaining classes with the disabled children using the materials we had brought to do them. Jemma had also planned a workshop for people who work with children with special needs that was cancelled due to the coup. However, she managed to create a booklet with all the information in it that is going to be distributed around the relevant people instead. Over the last few days, we tied up all our projects by filling in all our final forms and de-briefing the staff who are going to take over some of what we started.
Will I go back to Mali? One day, yes, I would love to. It won’t be anytime soon, not because of the military coup but because I want to visit places in the north like Timbuktu and Dogon country that were in the red zone while I was there and are almost certainly going to be in the Red Zone for a long time now! There are people there I’d love to see again and I will keep in contact with all the lovely staff at International Service Mali as well as some other fantastic people we met. The lady who runs the orphanage even said I could Skype her and the babies! Ideal! I am extremely fond of Mali and it’s only since I am back that certain things have been emphasized such as the friendliness of the local people and their generosity. No one says hello to me on the street here or asks how my mum and dad are! It would also be very strange to go back without my wonderful team! I miss them too. We lived, breathed and worked together 24hrs a day for 3months and grew so close that I would call them some of my best friends now. I know we will keep in contact and see each other often but it won’t be the same and most of my lovely Mali memories involve them in some form or another. I was very lucky to get to go to Mali and do the work I did but I was equally as lucky to have been put with such a great team of people.
I’ve had a wonderful 3months and will remember it forever. Thank you to those who donated money to the projects I worked on, your money was well spent! We have made a video about our work which I have emailed and put on Facebook. Thank you for also reading my blog and supporting me. J
Bridie and I with the tailor and the dresses they made for us!

Baby Adina, the cutest but moodiest baby in the orphanage

Checking out the playground equipment that has been made for UMAV - the blind school

Us and the IS staff looking at playground equipment

The drums for the sensory playground

Hibak and I with orphans tied to our backs

All the milk, water and goodies we brought the orphanage on our last day

Blind men packaging up chalk (photos from the chalk conference I organised and forgot to post in my last blog)

TV cameras filming the presentation at the conference

JJ talking giving the presentation in French about UMAV's chalk business

demonstration of how they make chalk

Tour of the workshop

Saying goodbye to all the IS staff in Mali

My wonderful team, before going our separate ways...